The Yahoo board

Anonymous

October 29, 2004

What the hell is wrong with the people on the Yahoo Message board these days?

They seem to be launching somesort of Jihad against Groklaw nowadays for alleged
post deletions. Have they really fallen to SCO's attempt to undermine Groklaw so
readily?

Stephen

05:36 PM EDT

The Yahoo board

Anonymous

October 29, 2004

Disclaimer: I don't read or post on the Yahoo board, so I am totally speculating
here.

Based on other posts I have read on Groklaw in the past day or two, I
*speculate* that the Yahoo board has recently been targeted by an invasion of
trolls (above and beyond its usual trolls) who are (1) saying nasty things about
PJ and Groklaw, and (2) trying to cause as much dissention and confusion as
possible.

I don't think the Yahoo board is normally as bad as it has been very recently.
I do think something fishy is definitely going on, both on the Yahoo board and
on Groklaw (an astroturfing campaign, account hacking, whatever).

PJ has already stated that she can't explain the current situation for legal
reasons, but she assures us that we don't know the half of it. As a long-time
reader of Groklaw, I have come to trust her honesty and integrity, so I can
accept her word on that without question.

05:45 PM EDT

The Yahoo board

elcorton

October 29, 2004

I'm a Yahoo board poster. Perhaps that makes me a presumptive troll, shill, or astroturfer. The truth is that I'm revolted by what's going on there. I've done what I could to combat it, by trying to persuade people to divert the Groklaw polemics to another board. I've had a little success; not enough.

Until fairly recently, the SCOX board had some worthwhile content. It still does occasionally, though you'd have to work hard to find it. I like to think I helped move it in the direction of serious analysis, with the aim of offering a voice independent of Groklaw. I also hoped for much more of a debate with SCO supporters, but that never really materialized.

When the Groklaw polemics began, I too assumed they were the work of agents provocateurs. I no longer think so. I believe that all or nearly all of the antagonism toward PJ is principled, though not well founded. Some of it has to do with personality conflicts, some with politics, and some with Linux culture (to which I'm an outsider.)

I'm not going to offer any crticisms or suggestions for changing the way things are done here; they would be unwelcome. I do advise against overplaying the shill/astroturfer hand. The real shills on Yahoo show far less subtlety than you give them credit for. And the SCOX board has, or did have, more value than you give it credit for.

08:41 PM EDT

The Yahoo board

October 29, 2004

I know your comments there, and I've often found them both interesting and helpful. I also know that there are many new handles on the board I never saw until recently.

I agree there are other issues, but I can't do what they want and still keep Groklaw running. It doesn't matter how loud they scream, there is no way to do Groklaw and run it the way they want. That's all there is to say. If that means they leave, they leave.

You are very welcome here and so are other Yahoo regulars, including those currently having issues, if they calm down enough to accept the way Groklaw is. If not, not.

11:26 PM EDT